The present invention relates to a high-frequency electrical connector also providing a switching function.
Connectors, especially of the coaxial type, are already known which allow switching of one electrical line forming a high-frequency transmission channel to another electrical line forming a high-frequency transmission channel when the two elements of the connector are engaged one in the other.
Such connectors are, in particular, used for connecting portable apparatuses to their socket while at the same time switching electronic functions of the portable apparatus with those of the socket, as for example ear radio-telephones.
The known connectors generally have a complex structure and usually exhibit the major drawback of not providing good electromagnetic isolation between the two electrical lines to be switched.
An electrical connector is known, from EP-A-0,590,544, which includes a first connector element comprising a first conductor and an earth conductor, and a second connector element comprising a second conductor, an earth conductor and a third conductor which is in electrical contact with the second conductor when the two connector elements are unmated, the first connector element being designed, when mating it with the second connector element, to move apart the said second and third conductors of the second connector element, the first (5), second (14) and third (16) conductors being made in the form of blades, the earth conductor of the first connector element (1) including an external sleeve (8) and a blade (6, 7) arranged substantially parallel to the blade (5) constituting the first conductor, the said blades being separated from each other and with respect to the external sleeve by an insulator (3, 4), the earth conductor of the second connector element (2) including an external sleeve (17), and a blade (15) arranged between the blades (14, 16) constituting the second and third conductors, the said blades being separated from each other and with respect to the said external sleeve by an insulator (11, 12).
In this connector, the third conductor is separated from the second conductor when mating the two connector elements, but remains unconnected while the second conductor comes into contact with the first conductor.
There could result from this a coupling effect between the third conductor and the electrical line constituted by the first and second conductors.
In order to avoid this drawback, in the connector described in EP-A-0,590,544, the two blades of the earth conductors join together, in order to form a continuous earth plane between the third conductor and the first and second conductors, when the two connector elements are mated.
This solution nevertheless exhibits the drawback of requiring significant penetration of the first connector element into the second connector element.
It also exhibits the drawback of involving a large radial deflection of the second and third conductors, something which, on the one hand, requires a large enough diameter of the connector and, on the other hand, imposes large bending stresses on the blades constituting the second and third conductors.